The House at Riverton

By: Kate Morton

Narrated by: Emilia Fox

Length: 20 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Summer 1924: on the night of a glittering society party by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses are sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, and they will never speak to each other again. Winter 1999: Grace Bradley, 98, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet’s suicide. Ghosts awaken and memories, long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace’s mind, begin to sneak back through the cracks. A shocking secret threatens to emerge – something history has forgotten but Grace never could. Set as the Edwardian summer finally surrenders to the decadent twenties, The House at Riverton is a multi-million-copy bestselling novel and one of the most successful debuts of all time.

©2006 Kate Morton (P)2023 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

"Combines a rich historical setting with a powerful emotional drama – and a gripping mystery." (The Australian Women's Weekly)

"An extraordinary debut." (The Sunday Telegraph)

"A rollicking good yarn of the sort you might devour in a single weekend." (Vogue)

A compilation of tropes and borrowed scenes

Maybe I didn’t get the author’s intentions but the lack of original story and characters rendered the drama and it’s inhabitants two dimensional and unsympathetic.

Downton Abbey, extended episode

This book was not at all what I was expecting but as it resembled a very long episode at Downton (which I adore), I stuck with it. Grace and Hannah are very similar to Anna and Lady Mary (the narrator sounds almost identical to Mary when speaking Hannah's parts) and overall, with that as comparison, this made for an enjoyable listen. It's a rather undeveloped plot all on its own, though. The gothic mystery I was expecting was neither gothic nor mystery.

Stunning story and narration

Phenomenal experience listening to this novel by Kate Morton! Her characters are written with such depth. They are complicated, flawed, real, and compelling. Fell in love with Grace the protagonist and sisters Hannah and Emmeline. The male characters were mostly doomed by being in the company of female power and grit. Nobody else writes like Kate Morton.

Love this!

Many things I liked: the time period greatly appeals to me. The narrator was wonderful & could change her voice convincingly from someone young to someone decades older. Intrigue was more than sufficient. The theme of a lifetime of memories & how those are dealt with in retrospect is nicely conveyed. I wish it could have been much longer. I did not want it to end.

Some threads left unclear

The writing is magnificent. Character development is superb. I somehow missed where Ruth came from. Never remember Grace being pregnant. All in all, a great read.

Great

Can not wait to listen to next book, I enjoyed every one of them I have already listen too

Okay but not great

I found out after purchasing this was her first book. This isn’t a terrible choice, but don’t expect her current level of story-telling.

This particular story stays almost exclusively in the past about a downstairs maid in pre-war England. The story is told from her point of view. I wasn’t too fond of Grace, and since she’s the first person story teller, it’s hard to get past that.

It’s worth a listen, just don’t expect 5 stars.

Loved this book

This was my first Kate Morton book, and I loved it. I would definitely recommend to readers of this type of genre. I will read more from this author.

Wonderful period story with good twists

I really enjoyed this story, and the narration was excellent. It follows a Grace, a housemaid at a grand English estate, from the time she begins at 14 throughout her life. not only do we follow Grace's story, but those she worked for and their family's drama. There are some good plot twists, including a big surprise at the end. well worth the listen.

Another Kate Morton favorite

Beautiful story and excellent narrator. I am an eighty three years old Spanish speaker reader and I enjoyed every single second listening to to this book.